


A Burden Shared

by The_Liability



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Child Death, Guilt, Murder, Rationalization, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:14:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23606650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Liability/pseuds/The_Liability
Summary: King Asgore is not prepared for this.
Relationships: Asgore Dreemurr/Toriel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	A Burden Shared

The king sat despondently on his throne. Back hunched, face buried in his paws. Asgore tried in vain to isolate himself from the world around him, from the reality of what he was about to do. The guard had reported some hours ago, a human had fallen into the underground, the first since his children had died.

It had been so easy at the time, they had been taken from him, his beloved children, killed by those who had slaughtered his friends and family and doomed his people to an eternity of darkness. When he had laid eyes upon Asriel's dust and Chara’s empty shell a rage had overcome him the likes of which he had not felt since the war so many centuries ago. And from his rage had flowed promises of freedom for his people, and fire and retribution for the perpetrators of this heinous act. 

His rage had burned fast and withered faster, leaving only ash and regret in its wake. The regret had transformed into horror as years passed, as the realization of what he had done rose in his mind. The horror he felt then felt like nothing compared to what he felt now. The guard had reported, the human was a child, a child no older than Asriel and Chara had been when they were taken from him. 

He had ordered the guard to allow the human to pass, and advised his citizens to stay at home. This burden was his alone to bear, his hands would be the only ones stained with innocent blood. His vision strayed to the empty seat beside him, his wife had fled, locking herself in her chambers, she could not bear to watch. He did not blame her, she had come to him, pleas on her lips and grief in her eyes as she tried to dissuade him from his path. He could not, he had promised his people freedom and freedom he would provide even if it brought him beyond the possibility of redemption. But still he cowered, awaiting the humans arrival as though it were his own execution that was approaching. He did not want to do this, the idea of subjecting another family to the same grief that had befallen him sent a chill up his spine and filled his veins with ice. 

The king was broken from his reverie by the sound of soft footsteps on the turf of the garden. The chill became all consuming as Asgore lifted his head and beheld the child before him. It was a little girl. She could not have been more than eight years old judging by her height, she wore a simple blue and white striped dress with a bright red ribbon tied into her hair. The child shifted nervously as the king rose, clutching her hands in front of her chest. 

  
“H-hello?” the child stammered, looking up at him expectantly, “Mr. king? I-I was told to come here, is this the way I get home?”. Asgore's hands shook beneath his cloak, he was unable to meet her gaze, “I am sorry, little one”. His mantle flew aside as he drew his weapon, the massive trident shining crimson. It had been decades since he had held this weapon, it had never felt heavier. 

The human shrieked and turned to run the way she came, but Asgore drove the butt of his weapon into the ground and flames erupted from the earth, cutting off all escape and preventing outside intervention. The child doged to the left, just barely avoiding a volley of fireballs that came hurtling towards her. “P-please!” the child whimpered, “I don't want to fight!”. The king gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the prickling behind his eyes.

Asgore sent another wave of fire at the girl, a fireball clipped her shin and she fell to the ground with a cry of pain. The human barely managed to roll out of the way as his trident impaled the place she had been laying seconds earlier, scrambling to her feet as tears streamed down her face, trying not to put too much weight on her injured leg. “W-why are you doing this?” she hiccuped, “ I j-just want to go home!”.

The king squeezed his eyes shut and swung his trident, sending out a wave of blue magic that knocked the girl off of her feet. He walked laboriously towards the child as she climbed to her feet, his entire body felt like it was made of lead. The human looked up at him in horror as he raised his weapon, her mouth opening to scream- before she was cut short as a long blade erupted from her chest. 

Asgore gaped in horror as the child stared uncomprehendingly at the weapon that had impaled her. Her mouth hung open voicelessly as she collapsed to the floor, her small body sliding off the weapon that had cut her life agonizingly short. Asgore looked up at the one who had interrupted his fight with the human, if it even could be called that, and suddenly he was surrounded by war.

_Asgore gritted his teeth as he wrenched the trident from the humans neck, doing his best to ignore the gurgling sound they made and the sensation of blood soaking the ground at his feet. Breathing heavily he surveyed the battle around him, though “battle” was a generous term._

_“Come on!” he boomed, “Just a little further and we’ll be safe!” he pointed to the mountain that loomed in the distance, waving his soldiers onward as they did their best to defend the civilians fleeing madly from the hostile army behind them._

_The king sent a tsunami of fire at an encroaching group of humans, trying to ignore the screams and the smell of burnt meat, “Forward!” he shouted, “Hold the line!”. Ahead of him, one of his men fell under the might of five human warriors, “NO!” he shouted , trying to reach them before the killing blow was dealt._  
_Suddenly, one of the humans erupted into flames and collapsed, rolling desperately along the ground until his movements slowed and he went still. Asgore looked to the fallen monster only to see his wife, the queen, standing above them, growling ferociously at the startled humans. Toriel was clad in silver plate mail, weilding a massive claymore, its blade bathed in flames._

  
_One of the offending humans charged her, his spear leveled at a chink in her armor. Deftly, she stepped to the side, slamming the hilt of her weapon into the humans jaw as his momentum carried him forward. Another ran forth, wielding a large battleaxe, only to be impaled with a thrust of her sword. The three remaining soldiers approached more cautiously, growling in fury at the loss of their_ _comrades. Toriel parried a series of strikes, barely sidestepping the thrust of a sword before decapitating them with a single swing of her weapon._

_A small group of humans had assembled before her, intending to intervene but thought better of it when they saw the look in her eyes and the bodies of their fellow soldiers at her feet. The message was clear, step forward and pay with your life. One by one, the humans ran, fleeing the avatar of vengeance before them._

_Asgore ran over to his wife, placing a hand on her shoulder and almost being decapitated as well when she startled and swung her weapon. Her eyes widened as she saw who she was attacking. “Asgore!” she said, “I am sorry, are you alright!”. “I’m fine Toriel, but we had better get going, I’m calling a retreat we can’t hold them here.”._

_Toriel nodded, stooping down to help the fallen guard to his feet. “Are you injured?” she asked, and Asgore winced as the monster looked up and the fresh scars on his face came into view, deep groves scored into bone. “I’ll be fine” the skeleton grumbled, and tried to take a step only to stumble._

_Toriel caught him, giving him a stern look, before looping his arm around her shoulder to help him walk. “Not if you keep doing that.” she said, “Come, we are regrouping, the humans will be back soon.”. The monster nodded, and the trio set off, trying to ignore the grisly scene behind them._

Asgore looked in horror at Toriel. His wife was wearing armor she had not worn in decades, holding a weapon she had not touched in longer, its blade baptized in blood once more. The child at their feet sobbed, curling into a ball as strength flowed out of their body in a precious red stream. The king stepped back, banishing his weapon as his wife dropped her own. 

The queen sat down, gently scooping up the child and cradling them in her arms. The child coughed, trying in vain to bring air into tattered lungs through a throat filled with blood. The queen hunched over their small form as she rocked them, trying to offer what little meaningless comfort she could in their final moments. “I-I am s-s-so sorry young one” she breathed, unable to stop the tears from flowing. 

Slowly, the child's ragged breaths became slower, until finally the monarch’s were left in silence. Eventually, the queen stood, gently laying the human down. “It’s done” she whispered as LOVE flooded into her soul, “There is no going back now.”. 

“Tori!!???” Asgore said, “what have you done?”. The queen looked up at him, offering a broken smile, “what you were going to do.” she said ignoring his flinch. “I-I thought for a long time Asgore, and… I can’t let you do this on your own.”. “W-what do you mean?” Asgore breathed, beyond lost. “Exactly what I said” Toriel said, “We’ve done everything together, lived together, ruled together, fought together, and we’ll do this together as well. If this is the path you have chosen then it is my path as well. I will help you bear this sin.” 

“No. No no no no NO! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ME!” he screamed collapsing to his knees, “You didn't have to-! I was supposed to-!”. The king sobbed, “Their blood was supposed to be on my hands.” he said, “no one else’s, especially not yours.”. Toriel knelt beside him as her tears joined his own, “I know gory… I… I know.”. 

After a while the royal’s tears ceased. “What we have done here today is unforgivable.” Asgore whispered, Toriel nodded, “Yes… but it is our duty to give our people hope, you taught me that.”. Asgore thought of his people, imagining them celebrating the death of a child they never met for crimes they weren't alive to witness and felt ill. 

“What miserable creatures we are” he whispered as a small cyan heart rose slowly from the human’s chest, “killing such a poor innocent youth.”. “Yes” Toriel said, “but at least we will be miserable together.”.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was heavily inspired by "The Second Child" by mythmonster2 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5048782). There is a few lines of dialogue in the fic where Toriel offers to stay and help Asgore kill the second fallen child, that got me thinking about a scenario where she actually DID. You should totally read that fic if you even slightly enjoyed this one, seriously its one of the best Asgore-centric one shots I've ever read.


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